2010 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

The rain couldnâ€™t slow down Dwight Dasher and the Blue Raider defense as the Blue Raiders picked off Adam Weber four times. Adam Weber found Tyler Stoudermire from 22 yards out to open up the scoring two minutes into the game. The Blue Raiders answered as Dasher connected with three passes and D.D. Kyles busted loose for a 28 yard gain and then scored a play later from five yards out to even the score at 7. After a three and out for the Golden Gophers, Alan Gendreau kicked a 41 yard field goal to lead 10-7. Marquise Dixon intercepted his first pass of the night to set up the Blue Raidersâ€™ Kyles for his second score of the day from 15 yards out to end the scoring in the first quarter at 17-7 Middle Tennessee. Both teams traded field goals in the second quarter to bring the game to 20-10 at halftime. Minnesota closed the gap in the third quarter to three points, but that would be as close as they got as Middle Tennessee scored 21 unanswered points. Dasher connected with Sancho McDonald from 33 yards out for the first score. Dasher found Kyles on a wheel route for 29 yards for Dasherâ€™s second touchdown and Kylesâ€™ third touchdown of the night. Rod Issac intercepted a Weber pass on Minnesotaâ€™s next drive but amounted to nothing and Minnesotaâ€™s next drive was stopped short as Weberâ€™s first pass was picked off by Marquise Dixon again. Once again, this lead to nothing for the Blue Raiders but with 2:20 left in the fourth, Sammy Seamster jumped in front of Weberâ€™s pass and returned it for a touchdown to close out the scoring.

On the third play from scrimmage the tone would be set that the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders were here to win. Dwight Dasher connected with D.D. Kyles for a 68 yard touchdown pass and with Alex Gendreau’s extra point the game was 7-0. After a Bronco missed field goal, the Blue Raiders drove into field goal range and Gendreau’s 42 yarder made it a 10-0 game at the end of the first quarter. Kevin Burke intercepted Alex Carder’s pass to give Middle Tennessee possession at the start of the second quarter. Gendreau connected from 23 yards out to make it 13-0 Blue Raiders. After a few missed tackles Aaron Winchester sprinted in from 63 yards out to make it 13-7 Blue Raiders. Once again, D.D. Kyles answered right back with a 54 yard run on 3rd and 1 and with Gendreau’s kick the lead was extended to 20-7. Kevin Burke came up with a turnover on Western Michigan’s next drive but amounted to little as the Raiders and Broncos would trade punts until Anton Scriven ran in from 5 yards out to cut the lead to six points. After Dasher threw his first interception of the season, Western Michigan cu t the lead to three with a field goal to end the first half scoring at 20-17 MTSU. After a Western Michigan punt, Dasher led the team on a six play drive and ended the drive with a 14 yard run which put the Raiders up by 10 and they wouldn’t look back from here. Kevin Burke came up with his third turnover of the day as he picked off Alex Carder for the second time and right away Dasher struck with a screen to Garrett Andrews who took it up the middle of the field for 54 yards and a 34-17 lead. But the play of the game was made by Derrick Crumpton who stepped in front of a Carder pass and returned it for a touchdown to end the hopes of the Bronco fans. Jordan White added a one yard rushing touchdown for the Broncos, but was quickly responded by D.D. Kyles who went in from 7 yards out for the Raiders. The Blue Raiders outscored the Broncos 21-0 in the third quarter.

After a scoreless first quarter it appeared neither team would mount any sort of offense on the rainy afternoon. But after Dwight Dasher and D.D. Kyles led the Blue Raiders down the field and was stopped short of the goal line on third down which lead to an Alex Gendreau 24 yard field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, LaDarius Green coughed up the football and was scooped by Sammy Seamster and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. A drive by the Ragin' Cajuns was halted by a Kevin Burke interception and led to a Dwight Dasher pass to Shane Blissard from nine yards out to extend the lead to 17-0 which also ended the first half. The Ragin' Cajuns would not go down without a fight as they traded possessions with the Blue Raiders until Dasher found Tavarres Jefferson down the side line from 48 yards out to extend the lead to 24. UL-Lafayette finally got on the board with 34 seconds left in the third quarter as Yobes Walker scored from three yards out to cut the lead to 17. Middle Tennessee answered with a Kyles rush from 11 yards to up the lead back to 24. This would be a short expansion of the lead as Chris Masson ran in from six yards to make the score 31-14. A field goal from Ragin' Cajuns kicker Brett Baer which was answered by Philip Tanner to end the game at 38-17 MTSU.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders were expected to improve under first year Coach Prewett, but no one would have ever expected them to jump out to the best start in school history at 6-0 after a huge upset over #15 Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Blue Raiders had terrible field position all afternoon long as their first two drives started inside their own 10 yard line. Georgia Tech's defense dominated the early drives as two punts by Alan Gendreau barely reached the 50 yard line. Middle Tennessee's Jeremy Kellem pounced on a Roddy Jones first quarter fumble and returned the fumble 58 yards for the games opening touchdown. Scott Blair's 38 field goal with 1:52 left in the 1st quarter brought the game to 7-3 MTSU as the first quarter soon ended. Both defenses stood tall throughout the second quarter until Dwight Dasher was able to drive the Blue Raiders down and handed the ball to Benjamin Cunningham for a 18 yard touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining in the first half to increase their lead to 14-3.

After great kickoff coverage by the Blue Raiders, the Yellow Jackets were called for holding two plays in a row and when Nesbitt dropped back to pass on 2nd and 30, he was sacked by Jamari Lattimore in the endzone for a safety and a 16-3 lead for MTSU. Dwight Dasher connected with three different receivers for first downs and then found Harold Turner from 16 yards out to increase the lead to 23-3. Josh Nesbitt soon responded with a 78 yard touchdown run after breaking the tackles of Stephen Roberts and Jeremy Kellem. The Blue Raiders responded with a 5 minute drive with runs from Dwight Dasher, Benjamin Cunningham, and Chris Roberts. The scoring drive was finally ended by Wesley Hall from 11 yards out to increase the Blue Raider lead to 20 points. Tevin Washington, who replaced Josh Nesbitt, threw two touchdowns late in the game to Stephen Hill from 15 yards out and 81 yards to end the scoring at 37-24.